Love painting, but not a fan of the mess?? Ever have an overcoming urge to paint graffiti around your neighborhood, but don’t want to risk getting in trouble with the law?? Then invisible graffiti is for you!! It’s a piece of white cardboard cut into the shape of a palette with completely dried nail polish […]

It’s no surprise that we are big fans of gardening, but this year we have a new addition to our usual rented garden plot — our first raised bed in our own backyard!! Mark has been hard at work with all the building, and I was SO excited that I could not WAIT for the […]

We’ve been taking it easy around here lately, so here are some EASY crafts for those laid back weekends. This star garland is easy to make using star-shaped sticky notes! Emily loved playing this easy fishing game — made with pipe cleaner fish! …and if Spring isn’t coming fast enough for you, try making your own tissue paper […]

While Emily was at school, Clara and I enjoyed working on a special surprise birthday card to give to Em later this month. It was super-easy and lots of fun to make! We used construction paper, and drew lines with black marker for the balloon strings. Then Clara had lots of fun adding all the […]

We are getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day, and Clara loved making this pot of gold craft from gold foil chocolate wrappers! It’s a quick and easy no-mess craft! Added bonus — I’m giving you an excuse to eat chocolate!! Um… Did somebody say….. CHOCOLATE???? Nom, nom, nom…….. I cut out a black pot from […]

This was a super-easy and quick activity that Emily enjoyed, and all we used were some old magazines and a package of googly eyes!! We used self-adhesive googly eyes, which you can buy here from Amazon for some no-mess silly fun! Emily had a great time “enhancing” the photos in the magazines! Here are some […]

Using some PVC pipe, a few recyclables, and some other household items, we made a fun rhythm set!! The sticks were made using empty heavy-duty cardboard rolls from plastic wrap. (I ask friends to save them for us!) Since most of the items were plastic, the “music” didn’t get too loud. Clara loved exploring all […]

A warm welcome to our newest sponsor, Happy Heels by Hannah! Hannah and her sister sew and sell fleece blankets that are designed to keep babies warm in a car seat — brilliant! Frugal Family Fun Blog readers can get 10% off their order by using coupon code — FFFB10 Sponsors help make this blog […]

These heart tea tags were a fun after school project for Emily, and they make quick, easy, (and frugal) Valentine’s Day gifts! I had a small box of tea from the dollar store, and Emily snipped off the tea tags with her kid-friendly scissors. Easy, peasy! We didn’t have any heart stickers on hand, but […]

These Valentine collage placemats are the perfect excuse to use up leftover craft supplies, and there is very little post-clean up involved. I love that it kept Emily happily entertained for a long while, and she has plans to make more of these for grandparent gifts!! She did almost this entire project on her own, […]

I made up a few pretend baking kits for the girls — which kept them happily occupied, and it’s a great quiet time activity! They are SUPER easy and quick to make up. I cut up some very inexpensive craft felt using a few cookie cutters as my pattern, added some pieces for “icing” and […]

These lacy snowflakes were perfect for adding some winter cheer to our house! It was a quick and easy project, plus it gave Emily lots of practice with the scissors! They turn out perfectly every time, giving the kiddos some early success using scissors! To make your own lacy snowflakes, you’ll need some paper doilies […]

Clara loved how shiny these snowflakes turned out, plus it was a fun way to practice her developing fine-motor skills! This project kept her happily busy for a long time, and there was hardly any mess to clean up — Yay for no-mess (frugal) crafts!!! I gave Clara a piece of tin foil to tear […]

It’s no secret that we love to create projects that bring lots of COLOR into our household — they are so bright, cheerful, and they always make me smile! This particular project kept Clara happily occupied for a long time, and doubles as a prop for pretend play. I traced a large serving bowl onto […]

When Emily came home from school this afternoon, she asked if we could make some ornaments for the tree, and she didn’t have to twist my arm. These candy cane ornaments are so easy and so much fun to make! Added bonus — hardly any post-crafting clean up! Yay for no-mess crafts! We happened to […]

This little gem of a handmade gift idea comes from Highlights High Five magazine — rainbow sprinkles to use as a fun topping for yogurt or ice cream! As soon as Emily saw this craft featured in the December issue, she begged to make it! If you don’t already subscribe to Highlights High Five, I […]

Clara and I made a fun Christmas tree using a few office supplies, and the best part..? No clean up! (Yay for no-mess crafts!) They are quick and easy to make too! I cut two identical pine tree shapes out of colored card stock (I recycled a torn file folder), then invited Clara over to […]

Emily and I made a pretty dove garland, and it was made using our new favorite art supply — coffee filters! These were so much fun to make!! If you have some coffee filters on hand, you can download our template, and print it out on card stock, to make a dove garland of your own! […]